The voice of silence: qualitative evaluation of bullying practices in people with intellectual disability

Abstract

In the multiple academic movements for the inclusion of students, university institutions are opening their undergraduate degrees to groups traditionally forgotten in the field of Higher Education, such as people with intellectual disabilities. Bullying is a reality that can affect all students, being more complex as the age of the students advances. The objective of this work is to gather information about the perception of people with intellectual disabilities about bullying and, thus, recognize the different manifestations of harassment to people with intellectual disabilities. Through a biographical-narrative research and a mixed evaluative design, we counted on the participation of 17 students who are attending the Título Universitario de Estudios Propios Todos Somos Campus-University Degree of Own Studies We are all Campus-to promote the social and labor insertion of the collective of young people with intellectual disabilities. Through a qualitative data analysis, the results showed that there is a situation of harassment, both physical and psychological, based on criticism and negative perceptions about the disability, which make it more sensitive to the status of different. In the same way, it reinforces the image of authority as an anti-bullying action, highlighting the role of mediation in the exposition of solutions. It is concluded that the relations established between the manifestations of bullying in the academic sphere and their possible solutions are not presented in isolation, but they are shown as a network that facilitates the answer to this problem.